Lenovo's European prez quits over 'serious strategic disagreements'

New boss drops in, firm shifts some manufacturing to Hungary from China

Lenovo's European president Eric Cador is today stepping down from the firm after just 12 months in post, citing "strategic disagreements".

Luca Rossi, currently president of Lenovo’s biz in Latin America, will succeed Cador. Prior to joining Lenovo in 2015, Rossi was EMEA president for Acer.

Cador will return to his eponymous consulting business. In a LinkedIn post he said: "The leadership experience has been valuable even if far too short for me to give its full potential. Leadership is the ability to learn, turn the page and look forward to a new journey!"

Lenovo yesterday announced a major shift in its manufacturing base, moving some of its storage and network production to Hungary this summer. Previously it had been made solely in China.

By moving its base from the Middle Kingdom, Lenovo hopes to reduce its time-to-ship by up to five days, as well as enjoying the associated cost savings of being closer to its European customer base. Production of x86 servers for EMEA customers will still continue in China allowing channel partners to to buy the kit at a cheaper cost by using the lengthier option of ocean freight shipping.

Its site in Hungary already produces PCs, phones, ThinkServers and tablet repairs and has just manufactured and shipped its 5th million PC for Lenovo EMEA.

Wilfredo Sotolongo, EMEA veep for Lenovo's Data Centre Group, said: “Transferring production to Europe is a strategic move for us which will create tangible benefits for our customers."

Some China watchers have noted that manufacturing in the Middle Kingdom has become more expensive in recent years due to rising labour costs.

Last year Foxconn announced it will be building a $5bn (£3.4bn) manufacturing complex in India. ®